Closing Doors

About Closing Doors

Closing Doors is a short horror game by collarpill, made in Unity and released on itch.io in December 2023, where its maker calls it a spooky elevator simulator. It plays in the browser and can be downloaded for Windows, Mac and Linux at a price you name.

The maker's description is one line: the elevator stops, even though this isn't your floor. That is the whole set-up. You are alone in a cramped elevator drawn with chunky, low-resolution textures in the style of 1990s 3D, and each time it stops the doors slide open on somewhere you did not ask to go. The release added the mechanic at the heart of it: closing the doors.

The maker recommends headphones, and players single out the sound design for making it tense without leaning on loud noises, though one still mentions being caught by a scare. Several describe something that seems to follow them from floor to floor. It takes about four minutes.

It suits players who like very short, atmospheric PS1-style horror and liminal spaces, such as The Exit 8 or Platform 8, and want something to play in a spare few minutes.

How to play Closing Doors

1. Open the itch.io page and press Run game to play in the browser, or download it for Windows, Mac or Linux.
2. Put on headphones, as the maker recommends.
3. Press Play and ride the elevator.
4. When the doors open on a floor that is not yours, close them.
5. Watch and listen to what is on each floor as you go.

Tips

• Use headphones; the sound tells you more than the picture.
• Play in fullscreen with the lights off; it only takes a few minutes.
• If the browser build is slow, download the desktop version.

Questions